Description of Research Expertise

Sarah Schrauben, MD, MSCE is Assistant Professor of Medicine and Epidemiology in the Division of Renal, Electrolyte, and Hypertension, and Department of Biostatistics, Epidemiology, and Informatics at the Perelman School of Medicine and a Senior Scholar in the Center for Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics at the University of Pennsylvania. Her research focuses on the impact of health behaviors and modifiable risk factors in the development and management of chronic kidney disease (CKD) and its complications, as well as addressing implementation gaps of evidence-based care in CKD. She has contributed to the growing evidence base that seeks to prioritize behavior recommendations for management of CKD as well as assessing barriers to healthy behavior engagement. She has conducted studies that have identified high levels of substandard health behavior engagement among adults with CKD and phenotypes of behavior engagement that associate with clinical outcomes in this population. Her work also has assessed for real-time barriers to health behaviors by interviewing patients with CKD and developing a patient-centered behavioral intervention that leverages mobile health technology to increase engagement in healthy behaviors. She is currently conducting feasibility testing of the intervention in a clinical trial. Dr. Schrauben’s research aims to address implementation gaps in evidence-based CKD care. She is currently expanding her investigations in disease management by exploring the impact of functional status among those with CKD and multi-morbidity. Her future work aims to guide the development of innovative strategies to improve clinical and patient-reported outcomes in CKD.

Selected Publications

Dember LM, Hsu JY, Mehrotra R, Cavanaugh KL, Kalim S, Charytan DM, Fischer MJ, Jhamb M, Johansen KL, Becker WC, Pellegrino B, Eneanya ND, Schrauben SJ, Pun PH, Unruh ML, Morasco BJ, Mehta M, Miyawaki N, Penfield J, Bernardo L, Brintz CE, Cheatle MD, Doorenbos AZ, Heapy AA, Keefe FJ, Krebs EE, Kuzla N, Nigwekar SU, Schmidt RJ, Steel JL, Wetmore JB, White DM, Kimmel PL, Cukor D.: Pain Coping Skills Training for Patients Receiving Hemodialysis: The HOPE Consortium Randomized Clinical Trial JAMA Intern Med 185 (2): 197-207,2025.

Greenberg JH, Abraham AG, Xu Y, Schelling JR, Coca SG, Schrauben SJ, Wilson FP, Waikar SS, Vasan RS, Gutierrez OM, Shlipak MG, Ix JH, Warady BA, Kimmel PL, Bonventre JV, Parikh CR, Denburg M, Furth S; CKD Biomarkers Consortium.: Biomarker Panels for Discriminating Risk of CKD Progression in Children J Am Soc Nephrol : 2025.

Schrauben SJ, Greenberg J, Coca S, Waikar S, Gutierrez O, Schelling J, Ix J, Shilpak M, Parikh P, Kimmel P, Sarnak M, Ramachandran V, Feldman HI, Bonventre J.: Urine Biomarkers for Diabetic Kidney Disease Progression J Am Soc Nephrol 35 : 2024.

Bush LC, Rivera E, Schrauben SJ: Patients’ Experiences Receiving a Chronic Kidney Disease Diagnosis: Opportunities for Clarity, Empowerment, and Support. J Am Soc Nephrol 35 : 1178,2024.

Medepalli A, Wallace M, St. Julien ZN, Forbess J, Prigmore HL, Greevy R, Schrauben SJ, Nair D, Fissell RB, Lewis J, Cavanugh KL, Resnicow KA, Wolever RQ, Umeukeje EM.: MoVE TRIAL Protocol: MotiVational Strategies to Empower African American Patients to Improve Dialysis Adherence. J Am Soc Nephrol 35 : 363,2024.

Malhotra R, Larsen B, Dasgupta S, Chopra T, Schrauben SJ, Drew DA, Ikizler TA, Kotanko P, Ix JH.: Fragmeted Physical Activity and Mortality in Patients on Hemodialysis: Insights from the Fitbit Study. J Am Soc Nephrol 35 : 184,2024.

Schrauben, SJ, Semmel B, Long J, et al: Muscle Density and Changes in CKD and Clinical Outcomes J Am Soc Nephrol 35 : 801,2024.

Schrauben SJ, Peschard VG, Brown RT, Zhang Z, Shlipak M, Tangri N, Yang W.: Baseline and Longitudinal Self-Reported Physical Function and Important Clinical Outcomes in CKD. J Am Soc Nephrol 35 : 1162,2024.

Schrauben SJ, Greenberg J, Coca S, Waikar S, Gutierrez O, Schelling J, Ix J, Shilpak M, Parikh P, Kimmel P, Sarnak M, Ramachandran V, Feldman HI, Bonventre J.: Targeted Urine Biomarkers for Diabetic Kidney Disease Progression in Participants of the Chronic Renal Insufficiency Cohort Study J Am Soc Nephrol 35 : 926,2024.

29., Peschard V-G, Scherzer R, Katz R, Sarnak MJ, Ascher S, Lash JP, Schrauben SJ, Parikh CR, Ilori TO, Kimmel PL, Coca SG, Gutierrez OM, Ramachandran VS, Sondheimer JH, Cheung KL, Bonventre JV, Levitan EB, Schelling JR, Taliercio JJ, Rao PS, Greenberg JH, Chen J, Estrella MM, Ix JH, Shlipak MG.: Defining Kidney Health Dimensions and Their Associations with Adverse Outcomes in Persons with Diabetes and CKD J Am Soc Nephrol (35): 35,2024.

Academic Contact Information

Renal Division, 1 Founders
3400 Spruce St
Philadelphia, PA 19103
Patient appointments: 800-789-7366